Scene from the 2016 season performance of Dialogues of the Carmelites
MIOpera (formerly the Midwest Institute of Opera) will present its 2019 season from July 20 through August 4. An additional performance will be held August 10 in collaboration with the Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra.
This year’s season will include Puccini’s La Boheme and Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, both joined in performance by the MIOpera Festival Orchestra. All performances will take place in the Illinois State University Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall.
Tickets are on sale now: $18 for adults; $16 for seniors, students, and military personnel; and $8 for children. Tickets can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com or by check at the door.
Sung in Italian with English supertitles, La Boheme is one of opera’s most popular and unforgettable stories. When young poet Rodolfo meets seamstress Mimì, it is love at first sight. But faced by the cruel realities of poverty and ill health, will the flame that burns between them flicker and die? Or will the timeless strength of their youthful passion withstand every trial and tribulation that life can throw at them? Conducted by Professor John M. Koch and directed by Tracy Marie Koch.
Performances will take place on the following dates, with a different cast for each performance.
- 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 31
- 7:30 p.m. Friday, August 2
- 2:30 p.m. Sunday, August 4
Sung in English with English supertitles, Die Fledermaus is a tale of mistaken identities, flirtations at a masked ball, elegant frivolities, and confusions of all kinds—providing a hilarious vehicle for some of the most captivating music ever written. Conducted by Timothy Semanik and directed by Tracy Marie Koch.
Performances will take place on the following dates, with a different cast for each performance.
- 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 30
- 7:30 p.m. Thursday, August 1
- 7:30 p.m. Saturday, August 3
The MIOpera and Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra performance of Strauss’ Die Fledermaus will take place at the First United Methodist Church in La Grange on Saturday, August 10, at 7:30 p.m.
Opera and Song at University Galleries
11 Uptown Circle, Suite 103
Normal, Illinois 61761
Enjoy stunning voices and art work at the University Galleries of Illinois State University. These lunchtime recitals will feature opera, art song, and classical Broadway. All of the singers are performers in the MIOpera summer 2019 productions of La Boheme and Die Fledermaus. These concerts are free and open to the public!
12:30 p.m. Friday, July 26
12:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 30
MIOpera has been in residence on the Illinois State University campus since July 2011. The company was started as an effort to provide professional opportunities for emerging opera artists, pianists, and conductors to perform in a full opera production. Previous performances include Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (2011), Don Giovanni (2012), Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance (2012), Verdi’s Aida (2013), Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (2013), Puccini’s Suor Angelica (2014), Bizet’s Carmen (2014), Shore’s The Beautiful Bridegroom (2014), Ravel’s The Bewitched Child (2015), Rossini’s La Cenerentola (2015), Candey’s Sweets by Kate, world premiere (2015), Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana (2015), Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel (2016), Verdi’s Falstaff (2016), Pirates of Penzance (2018), and Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann (2018).
You can find MIOPera on Facebook or visit the website for additional information related to upcoming events.
